instead of . . .

i surprised him
the second he spotted me
behind his mommy
his little darling body
became a dance all by itself
his always smiling face
made room for even more
giggles many giggles
‘come on, grandma!’s
hand in hand
eyes locked on mine
my little enormous sunshine

‘you come to anne car’
ending in 1/3 of a question mark
with my yes already in his shiny heart

leaving his pre-school

amid the two grown women’s chatter
as untainted as out-of-this-world
as a human voice can ever be
“I love you, grandma!”

. . .

i love him so
his little sister too
that each such moment takes my breath away
but then together we all get to breathe again
laugh cry eat drink celebrate sleep be loved again

and on the many other ends of our truly splendid world
because of the few but contagious sick and sickening minds
under their equally plagued but money-pouring hands
children die
die
die
die
die again
again
again
again
die again

© hülya n. yılmaz (4.6.2017)

With a lump in my throat for the millions of children killed “[i]n the past ten years, as a result of armed conflict,” for the millions who “have been disabled, […] are homeless, and […] have become separated from their caregivers.” From: The Invisible Trauma of War-Affected Children (My quotes’ source, a post by Robert T. Muller, Ph.D. dates back to April 27, 2013. Close to four years later, the numbers of the so-called “casualties of war” do not need a scientific reference, do they?)